Digital maps remotely accessed via a computing device over a network offer several significant advantages over paper-based maps. Such digital maps can include details that would overwhelm a paper-based map because the level of detail that is displayed by a digital map can be adjusted by the user, such as through a zoom function. Digital maps can likewise be updated much more frequently than paper maps. As a result, the provision of digital map data over a network, such as the ubiquitous World Wide Web (WWW), has grown substantially.
Conventional map data provided over the WWW is directed to aiding users identify routes, distances, and locales while at interacting with networked computing devices and before traveling. Thus, the provision of map data over the WWW generally includes printing abilities to enable users to take specific map-based information with them when they travel. Once a user is traveling, however, accessing remote map data can be difficult and inconvenient. As an initial matter, many geographic areas do not have wireless network access through which to obtain digital map data. In addition, even if the user could obtain access to digital map data while traveling, conventional interfaces require direct attention and manipulation, which the user often cannot provide, such as when the user is driving a car.
Consequently, a range of products has become available that offer digital map data to users while they are traveling. Such products traditionally comprise a limited display area and a limited input interface so that the user can interact with the product while performing some other task, such as driving. Such products also often incorporate Global Positioning Service (GPS) sensors that track the user's location and then provide information based on the user's location, such as nearby restaurants or directions from the user's current location to a place of interest. The presentation of such information, however, is still done in a manner that is difficult for distracted users to process. In particular, many traveling activities, such as driving, require the user's visual focus and mental attention. Presenting locations to a user in the traditional format of a street number, followed by a street name, can require more concentration that the user can afford to spare at any one time, and can be difficult for the user to remember for more than a very short period of time.